Aurora Celeste
by FalloutGuy1986
Summary: Sierra Petrovita has arrived at Nuka-World with hopes of meeting her hero John-Caleb Bradberton. Once she meets the mysterious Aurora Celeste, her plans are discarded for a promise of an enthralling adventure, Aurora's royal heritage and the ultimate surprise. Will Sierra give her loyalty in exchange for the promise of perfect reward? Or is Aurora a pretender with her own agenda?
1. Aurora and the Yao-Guai coat

A star streaked across the dusk sky, shining in brilliant white as the daylight sun faded.

Contrary to the popular phrase, of course, it was not a star. Simply a heavenly body shining for a moment in time as visible to the naked eye as a flash of a welder's torch causing sparks to fly from the metal. The superheated fragments of steel visible only for that brief, fleeting moment before disappearing completely as they hit the warm concrete that lies beneath Sturgis' feet as he welds from daybreak to nightfall.

As the sparks are visible to only those who openly notice rather than being taken for boredom by Sanctuary's many settlers, the finite light in the sky was noticed by only Sierra Petrovita.

Her gaze had shifted toward the heavens for that exact moment from her anxiously excited and annoyingly frantic study of the multicolors that painted every nook and cranny of Boston's premier destination of family fun and ultimate refreshment: Nuka World.

Sierra's rampant thirst for everything Nuka faded into insignificance for that scant moment as the comet burnt a piece of reality into her otherwise Nuka-loaded mind.

She had always found shooting stars to be fascinating. Not nearly as fascinating as...

"Nuka Cola!" She cried, removing the crimson shades from her eyes to her forehead, their dark and mirror-shining U.V. Ray shields in the shape of two bottle caps. The image of a friendly and smiling animated bottle and its diminutive rotund bottle cap companion now glaring a bit in what setting sunlight that remained.

"It's everywhere! The logo on all of the signs! The bottles with the other worldly glow! The rush and the sugar and that radiation-ey kick! Nuka-World, the Nuka promised land, I have finally found you!"

A few passing raiders paid her mind only in passing before moving along, adjusting their armor as they set their sights on whatever blood drenched raider activity they had on their minds at that moment.

Her shoulder length, natty blonde hair shifted in the breeze. Her bangs flew into her eyes, stinging them and as her hands changed positions from high in the air to frantically tugging at the knotted strands her balance shifted likewise and she landed on her rear with a loud ''ugh".

The passing raiders laughed at her, but Sierra paid them little heed as she instead shifted her weight onto her hands behind her, crossed her legs and simply gawked at the enormous red and white painted metal sign emblazoned with the "Nuka World" symbol.

Sierra was still quite the looker even at forty years of age, even if she was a bit naive and timid in the intelligence department. The wasteland's dangers hadn't snuffed her, the radiation hadn't mutated her and the rigors of everyday survival showed themselves beautifully in her sleek curves and solid, well-toned muscles.

Genetics also showed themselves in very flattering ways. As her old friend and former protector in the Capitol wasteland, Ronald Laren had said so many times, she had all the right curves in all the right places.

Those conversations were several years old, of course, but her body surely did not show them, nor the thirty years that had passed since puberty had begun molding her into the gorgeous woman that she had become.

Her white cotton shirt emblazoned with Bottle and Cappy, the aforementioned Nuka World mascots, covered her charms quite well. Moreso of course than the fading dark blue denim jeans that clung to her hips and legs quite well, showing the wear and tear and dust that had accumulated over her millions of foot falls and the several years' long journey from Washington D.C. to Boston, Massachussetts.

Sierra finally rose to her feet and dusted her backside off once the rocks that littered the blacktop began to sting her palms. She set her pace toward the nearest information stand and park map sign as unfamiliar eyes watched her from afar.

 **BBBB**

From the tallest spire throughout all of King Cola's Castle where a long-forgotten flag once flew, a six-foot tall buxom shape sat taking notice of any and all who entered, left or stayed in the grand theme park, her back touching the cold and broken grey brick that once gleamed like new with maintenance, which now looked sad and gritty, dirty and depressed from over two-hundred years of neglect.

Neither Oswald the ghoul magician nor his band of brightly painted feral ghouls had a prayer of noticing her. Her instincts were thousands of years old despite her hourglass body and youthful features. Throughout all of those millenia she had been shaped and molded to be the apex being that her descendents throughout her wealthy family line knew that she could be, needed to be.

From her flawless skin to her body's perfection to her astronomical I.Q. she had been carefully bred to be the absolute pinnacle of perfection, elegance, grace and bold personality and intellect.

Aside from these qualities she was unique amongst her family in that while her father, mother, grandparents and the rest of her descendents each exhibited much the same gifts of beauty, genius intelligence and grace, they tempered these things with generosity, compassion and humility.

Aurora Celeste, however, was decidedly aware of her gifts, her bloodline and her prestige.

Aurora smiled, her full lips creasing to a point on both sides as she watched raider after raider wallow around in filth and blood while she awaited glory and recognition from her family upon her successful return from her pilgrimage. Her secretive mission would have to be accepted as a failure, but wow, they would sigh, what patience she would exemplify!

"What a worthy pioneer," they would say, "has graced us with her presence."

Then her position would be hers and her throne would be set high above the earth with glory and dominion over her people.

She knew her mission was important and yes, indeed, when she first began she had taken the job seriously, hoping to succeed in her role as a pioneer among the denizens of this destroyed earth.

She set her high powered, magnified binocs beside her on the concrete and sighed, the sound a pleasant whisper. She lazily pressed a button on the side and the low whirring of the electronics within effectively powered them down and they lay dormant and quiet once more.

A holo-recorder was produced from her nearby bag of emergency essentials and the record button was pressed.

"Princess and Heir Aurora Celeste. It has been days since your last recording." A low monotonous rumble of a voice emanated from within the holo-recorder.

"As always, the boredom overtakes me, Echo." Aurora said softly.

Her voice was a pleasant alto with a hint of a scratch just behind her accent which pronounced the 'th' of _the_ as "zh"... pronouncing it more along the lines of 'zh-eh'. Her accent pronounced the hard 'r' of overtakes with a roll of her tongue.

' _Az ahl-ways, z'he borr'dom overr'takes me._ '

It was a sound resembling a mix of the French and Russian pronunciations of English words.

Her voice was muffled slightly from the sleek one-piece black leather mask that obscured her facial features. The black glass that covered the eyeholes never even betrayed the color of the eyes they hid. The deep black hood of her cloak covered her hair, the widow's peak of the fabric coming to rest just between where her eyebrows would have been had they been visible at the moment.

The Heir wore a full body suit of black leather, a crude covering she had fashioned by herself from a Yao-Guai kill she had made when she first had happened upon Boston, months ago.

She replayed the beginning of her ritual, her pilgrimage, once more in her mind as she lay her head against the cool grey brick.

 _Her eyes open frantically and she moves to a sitting position. The tickle of the tall grass around her and the brown, dead trees she witnesses tell her she is in an unknown wood. No man-made structures can be seen right now. All around her is thicket. Her nude hands find her black mask, her only clothing and protection from the harshness of the wasteland. Both sets of five fingers feel around the hard material and she breathes a sigh after she inhales._

 _Her fingers touch her breasts. Sensitive. The cool air around her hardens her nipples, as do the brief touches. She stifles a moan, widens her eyes and shakes her head from her reverie. Now isn't the time. Shelter, clothing... Those are the essentials._

 _Her hands frantically search for her duffle. Her only meager luxuries lie within. Those long, thin fingers test the zip before pulling the metal piece down along the teeth. Within, one eight-ounce bottle of clear liquid marked emergencies only._

 _Her holo-recorder with which she must log her reports and her findings within at least once every two standard days. Failure to do so will result in a failure of her pilgrimage. Therefore, her right to her throne will die along with her standing within her family._

 _Her electro-magnifiers with which to study her objectives from afar, as objective two cannot be completed until objective one is completed._

 _Finally, an energy knife with metal handle and four-inch blade for use in self-defense and hunting. Her second objective makes her attack of any n'er-do-wells impossible, therefore she knows she must ignore the distractions of other people in danger and focus everything on those two objectives._

 _No, her four-inch energy knife is permissible in only self-defense and the hunting of animals._

 _She packs the duffle neatly, her pride snuffing her gifted mind's insistence that she get moving quickly. Once zipped, her forefinger finds the silver bracelet attached to her wrist. The pad of her finger touches the ruby trinket attached to the chain. The duffle, along with all of its contents, vanishes._

 _However, the Heir does not panic. She knows they are safe in the ether._

 _Her head whips to the right at the sound of a snapping twig. Her eyes widen and her lips part in a silent scream at the sound of a blood-curdling roar. Her fingers touch the Ruby twice at the presence of a five-foot Yao-Guai._

 _At the insistent duo of touches, her energy knife reappears in her hand and she raises the tool to fight._

Aurora's body jerked as her memories faded and fantasy became reality once again. She smiled once more, her pride forming her lips into a full grin rather than a lopsided smirk.

 _Always the lady._ Her father's voice repeated to her.

She looked down to her Holo-recorder once more and spoke into the holographic screen.

"Eight forty-five, Saturday evening in the month of October, Twenty-two-seventy-seven.

"This was more than a waste of time and opportunity. Not one single person of note in the whole of the Boston area of Massachusetts. However, there is hope when I hear of the existence of a theme park. The most exciting family fun extravaganza in all of Boston, they call it. If truly there is even a single person of note... who is worthy of my mission, surely that person would be found in such a venue.

However, not a single person of worth have my eyes seen since setting up camp in the perfect spot. Only those dressed in the most hideous... I refuse to call them clothes... scraps of leather I have ever seen committing unspeakable acts of deplorable violence upon one another. Their mistreatment of their slaves is abhorrible as well.

"This pilgrim is beginning to believe there shall be no person worthy of my mission to be found in all of this world. Only one month remains of my rite of passage and should objective one fail not of my own volition, yet I keep objective two unsullied, then my wasted year will not have been in vain.

"The prison of these leathers of New World bear will not have been suffered without reason. On a more personal note... Dear Shriva do I miss my Lake-Basker leathers and comfortable bed. But among the sighs, Dear Shriva, my necessary poverty is near its end and my deliverance from this world is nearing closer every sunset."

She pressed the button again before thinking once more and touching her ruby gently three times.

She stared pitifully at the bedroll she had salvaged from some ruin in Boston. Her gloved fingers touched the fabric softly, sadly, before she adjusted her leathers and drew her black fabric cloak tighter around her hourglass frame and lay down to drift off to dream above Nuka World.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welcome to my new mini-series. This idea won't leave me alone. I'm not expecting an epic, more like a short story with a few chapters but we will see what happens. This is my attempt to get better at storytelling and making better reveals to people.**


	2. Tempting Sierra

"Echo, open communications."

An elegant, if not arrogant, voice spoke into her Holo-recorder.

Her voice lilted with her unique accent, a cross somewhere between French and Russian pronunciation as she commanded her tool to activate and join her as she stalked the outer wall of Nuka World. She sunk low into a crouch as her eyes peeked through the eyeholes of her hard, black mask at the crowd of raiders below.

Once more Aurora Celeste showed her cunning as she stuck to the shadows. Even in the light of noon nobody would notice her unless they specifically knew where to search for her. The black of her Yao-Guai leathers, her mask and her cloak covered every bit of skin which may have given her away. However, the shadows of Dry Rock Gulch's massive bluffs concealed her well.

Aurora peeked through the lenses of her binocs at a lone blonde woman mingling in the crowd below. She did not seem to notice any of the violent criminals that surrounded her, as lost as she was in the world she had come to bask in.

This made Aurora smile. Could she be the one person of worth in the entirety of Boston? Aurora could hope. Along with the fact that this woman was easy on the eyes, Aurora knew that if she found a good example of post-war humanity, then the tall woman's pilgrimage was going to end sooner rather than later.

"Aurora Celeste, my princess, you have recorded an entry merely twenty-four hours ago. Why the sudden interest in your mandatory Echo recordings? Are you sick?" The monotonous growl emanated from the small silver box.

"Of course not. Only feeling slightly less lazy today of all days." Aurora answered cheekily.

Aurora lowered the binocs from her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Today, just now, this pioneer may have spotted what may be her mission objective. And more than four days sooner than her diminutive brother. That smooth talker will be next in line for high station should I fail in my objectives. I was formerly hoping that passing objective two without hope of finding a beacon of goodness and attractiveness and humility among a planet of violence and evil would be well-enough to buy me a throne. However, should this… woman be the one, I will be able to return to the King and Queen with my beautiful head held high, my bright and shining eyes focusing upon my ultimate goal of securing my kingdom and my people."

The Echo stopped recording at her insistence and she stalked around once more, disappearing behind the rock outcropping to await the proper moment for her to make herself known.

Hours later as the sun was setting Sierra Petrovita found herself in a secluded alley way behind one of Nuka World visitor center's main buildings. She had searched the entire park from sunup to sundown for secret hidden letters in order to complete a scavenger hunt whose prize had promised her a meeting with the inventor of Nuka Cola, John Caleb Bradberton himself. She was feeling giddy, having found the final E of her hunt. She bounced on her heels in excitement, not believing her luck. She wrote the letter down on the scrap of paper she had been using to preserve the letters she had been hunting and began about the task of deciphering the hidden message.

"Puzzles become you."

Sierra nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun around in place to face the owner of the voice.

A male raider stood before her, menacing her with his pieced together pipe rifle. The death end of his weapon was held pointed at Sierra's heart as he advanced upon her. He grabbed her arm which held the piece of paper.

"I've been following you all day long now, and it looks like you've got this little riddle all sorted out. Give me the paper and there'll be no problems… Give it here now..."

The raider would have continued his threats but as his eyes widened he realized he could no longer speak. He uttered a wet gurgling noise as he dropped his weapon and both hands clutched his throat which sported a brand-new incision. His throat opened and blood poured as he slumped to the ground and fell dead revealing a six-foot womanly shape completely decked out in black and holding the glowing blue arc of her energy knife.

Sierra was openly weeping in fright as she bowed her head and covered herself with her arms, desperately pleading that the mysterious woman not harm her as well.

"Begging, however, is not becoming of you." She spoke loud enough to be distinctly heard.

Sierra looked up, still quaking.

"Up with you. We must speak but there are other witnesses around." Aurora commanded.

Sierra slowly stood upon shaky legs. She gulped and looked into the soulless black eye pieces of Aurora's mask.

"Who… who are you?" Sierra wondered.

"All data will be given on a need to know basis, when we are alone. Not before. Follow me."

Aurora turned toward a damaged portion of fence and ducked through to the other side. She tapped her silver bracelet's ruby center three times and her energy knife disappeared to be replaced with a rusting pistol shaped tool.

Aurora looked quickly over to where Sierra still stood.

"Now." Aurora insisted.

Sierra nodded and made her way over to her rescuer. Aurora wrapped her arms securely around Sierra's body which made the blonde stiffen for a moment. The taller woman pointed the pistol shaped tool upward at the outer wall and fired. A grapple shot from the tip and clanked against the thick wall before being secured in place. She tested the strength of the metal line before pressing a button and using the added leverage provided by the grapple gun to rappel both herself and Sierra up the wall. Once on the top, Aurora jumped down, rolling at the bottom of the wall to slow her momentum.

She then turned toward the wall and outstretched her hands.

"Jump!" She called to Sierra.

The blonde hesitated at the edge of the wall before shots were fired from behind her. The bullets plinked against the cement wall sending grey chips flying in different directions. Sierra screamed and ducked.

"We all know well that these savages are the worst marksmen on the earth… but do hurry before you are damaged." Aurora called out sarcastically.

Sierra shrieked as she threw herself from the top of the wall. She was caught deftly in Aurora's unassuming strong arms. Aurora set her upon her feet once more.

"With me." Aurora spoke as she set off loping toward King Cola's castle and her temporary base camp.

Once more with the grappling hook and another rappel of the outer wall and some relatively skillful parkour stunts atop the castle's various roofs later and Sierra sat huddled against the castle's wall, her shoulders wrapped in a shawl that Aurora had pilfered from one of the raiders' settlements while they slept.

Aurora offered Sierra a bottle of water which she accepted gratefully. Aurora sat back with her leather-bound body leaned up against the adjacent wall. Aurora tilted her head regarding the Nuka obsessed blonde curiously.

"You're welcome." Aurora spoke after a few minutes' silence.

Sierra jumped, choking on her water for a moment. She breathed deeply once she had calmed down and could breathe.

"Th… thank you!" Sierra said gratefully.

Aurora chuckled.

"Don't mention it. You are after all very useful to me. I would hate to see you harmed."

Sierra didn't know how to respond to that, so she was simply quiet.

"You had questions." Aurora reminded the other woman.

"Yes, I did. If you can answer them, that would be swell." Sierra said, smiling for the first time in an hour.

"I will answer nothing as to my origin or my home for now. Is that clear?" Aurora asked.

"Okay." Sierra said meekly.

"Ask them." Aurora allowed.

"What's your name?" Sierra asked.

Aurora chuckled.

"I was absolutely sure you would pester such a mysterious being as I."

"You said not to." Sierra replied, shrugging.

"Respect. I like that. My name is Aurora Celeste."

Sierra perked and smiled at the unknown woman.

"That is the prettiest name I have heard in a long time." Sierra stated.

"Let's just say for now that my lineage and my future all depend on my being as elegant as is possible."

"You speak English… but your accent…" Sierra said.

"Sounds like you are fishing for my origin." Aurora said cautiously.

"Not at all. I am just wondering if English is your first language." Sierra assured her quickly.

"No. It is not even my fourth. There are many… provinces where I am from. They each speak different languages. My lineage being what it is I was taught different languages from the day I was born. My accent is a by-product of my original language. English sounds rough to me, to be honest. I much prefer Chinese. So many nuances in the words they communicate with. English is by far one of the hardest languages I was ever taught."

"You speak it so well though!" Sierra gushed, quickly becoming herself as she grew more and more comfortable.

"I appreciate the sentiment. But I still have problems with there, their and they're along with other homophones. I do say however, I love your palindromes." Aurora sighed as she tapped the ruby on her wrist twice, producing coffee and a pair of brahmin steaks complete with plates and silverware, the meat already cooked to perfection.

Sierra appeared shocked at what Aurora had accomplished with just the touch of her finger to her bracelet.

"I don't know what to ask now… Either how many languages you speak or how the heck you did that."

"Then I'll answer both," Aurora shrugged, "I know nearly eighty languages, all spoken near-perfectly."

Sierra was stunned.

"I barely grasp English." Sierra mumbled before cutting a piece of steak and feeding it to herself.

Aurora chuckled.

"And this device on my wrist stores four-hundred pounds of equipment. It connects to a device imbedded in my mask. I tap the ruby a number of times depending on what I want it to do. I tap once to make my duffle appear and disappear. This is useful when I need to manage my inventory. I tap twice to produce any sustenance I need whether it be food, water or chems, anything that aids my body's natural bioprocesses. And I tap three times for any equipment I need, weaponry and other things. That is a bit more complicated and requires much more concentration on my part."

"Concentration?"

"Yes. The device on my wrist is connected to my inner consciousness. I think about what I need and tap the ruby the required number of times and the piece of equipment I am thinking about is transferred to my hands."

"Are you from the institute?" Sierra wondered, trying to put two and two together.

Aurora tilted her head and remained silent.

"Sorry." Sierra replied sheepishly before wolfing down her food.

"Get rest tonight. I require you to follow someplace nearby. It will take two hours and a few minutes to reach, but once there I will present you the choice of a lifetime. You are free to choose whichever way you feel like choosing, but I can guarantee you with one-hundred percent certainty that you will never receive an opportunity like this for the rest of your life." Aurora promised.

Sierra shivered at the mysterious promise.

"I will follow you. I can promise that much. This trip has been more than I could have ever imagined already."

"I have one question for you." Aurora stated.

She had finished her meal and idly tapped her ruby four times before waving the laser that emitted from the ruby at her plate and utensils. They vanished before Sierra's eyes.

"That is my devices fourth and final ability. Tap four times and point at whatever it is and it will disappear from existence."

Sierra's eyes widened.

"Does that include…" she began.

Aurora chuckled once more, this one more jovial than any of her other humorless bouts of laughter.

"No, my dear, the delete option does not work on anything with a central nervous system. The company which produces these devices made that abundantly clear." Aurora said joyfully.

Sierra sighed and laughed herself. She pushed her finished plates and utensils toward Aurora. She again pressed her ruby four times, aimed her laser at the discarded items and sent them into nonexistence.

"This is all incredible. What else do you have to show me?" Sierra wondered.

Aurora grinned but this was unknown to Sierra.

"Follow me and find out." Aurora said, extending her hand.

Sierra removed her glove and took her hand.

"You don't intend to take your glove off?" Sierra wondered.

Aurora shook her head.

"No. Not just yet." She said.

Sierra gripped Aurora's hand a bit firmer and smiled at the faceless black mask.

An hour later, Sierra slept as soundly as she ever had. Enjoying the knowledge that she at least had a guardian as she slept, allowing her to for once let her mind wander to tomorrow's activities and not sleep with one eye open.

Aurora, however, sat against the cool wall of King Cola's castle roof, the material of the long-neglected spire scratching her back in a not-so-uncomfortable fashion. Her eyes were glued to the sleeping blonde. She had managed to let go of all but a shred of doubt that this was the woman she needed to report to the King and Queen.

"Echo, activate." Aurora said softly.

"Good evening Aurora Celeste." The Echo replied as it came online at its master's lilted voice.

"Ten-thirty p.m. It has been three days since my mission began. Objective one is all but complete. I am still unsure about whether or not objective two will be able to be completed because that depends entirely upon her. King and Queen… father and mother have forbidden me from kidnapping. That is not our people's way. I will lead her if she is willing and I do hope she will be. This one strikes me as something… someone special. I can't place my finger upon it. I just hope she agrees to follow me to my home."

Aurora was silent for a few beats before closing her eyes and sighing.

"She is the one. I am sure of it."

One more beat of silence followed her statement.

"Aurora Celeste signing out."


	3. Makeup

Sierra awoke with a start and a scream in reaction to the loud explosion that sounded mere feet from her sleeping form. Her blue eyes searched for the source of the sound and found the crouching figure clad in black leather cradling the stock of a long hunting rifle which bore what appeared to be a high-powered scope and not much else in the way of modifications. She lowered the weapon and produced a handkerchief from a pocket. She wiped the barrel of her rifle and examined the warm metal for any damage before tapping her wrist-bound ruby once. Sierra jumped and gasped as Aurora's rifle disappeared from view. She was still not accustomed to the sight.

Aurora whipped around, startled from her concentration for a moment before sighing and adjusting her hood.

"Please do not do that." Aurora groused.

"Sorry," Sierra said softly, "I just wasn't expecting to wake up quite so explosively."

"I suppose I could fix Mari'elitai with a suppressor. Something to look forward to." Aurora spoke thoughtfully.

"In any event," Aurora said before tapping her ruby bracelet twice before two steaming hot bowls of noodles appeared from seemingly nowhere, "Breakfast is served, and I should warn you to eat. We have a long trip ahead of us, if you are still willing to accompany me."

Sierra stood from her borrowed bedroll and stretched her arms above her head. She leaned back ever so slightly feeling her tense muscles and sore bones stretch and pop. She sighed and leaned back against the craggy plaster that made up the walls of King Cola's castle.

Regaining her bearings, she stepped toward where Aurora now sat examining her meal. Sierra took a bite from her steaming bowl and savored the mouth-watering taste of the liquid and the filling noodles.

Aurora simply sat before sighing.

"What's the matter?" Sierra wondered, placing her fork back into the bowl.

Aurora didn't answer.

"Oh, come on. I did promise to travel with you, remember?" Sierra chirped cheerfully.

"I did not intend to remove my mask in the presence of another so soon." Aurora answered cryptically.

"You do need to eat, though, right?" Sierra said, "You are only human after all."

Aurora paused.

"Right…" she said carefully.

Aurora's fingers touched both sides of her solid black mask almost reverently. She began to raise the covering before apparently thinking better of it. Her hands slid down to the bottom portion and she gripped the mask there. She raised the face shield slowly upward a few inches displaying her chin and her full lips to Sierra.

"Your makeup is beautiful." Sierra stated aloud before picking up her fork and eating once more.

"My makeup… of course." Aurora stammered.

"Why act like that? It's a lovely shade of blue. The foundation on your chin and the darker blue lipstick you are using are really swell!" Sierra said, hoping to cheer her new friend up.

Aurora coughed, stalling.

"It's just… not many people wear makeup in this mucked up world. I would hate to stand out. That's the last thing I wish to do." Aurora supplied.

"Ah, shucks, I'm sure you are beautiful beneath that helmet."

"Thanks." Aurora said bashfully before silencing herself and beginning to eat her meal in earnest.

"I would sure love to see the rest of it sometime. I am sure I would love to see what designs you come up with. Maybe do a bit of secret swapping." Sierra gushed between bites.

Aurora touched her face mask with one hand. Her fingers grazed the metal thoughtfully. She gripped the mask harder, her mind wavering between brokering trust with the woman she was trying to sway to her way of thinking and retaining the secrecy that had always kept her alive. Her hand dropped swiftly to her lap however and she resumed eating her breakfast in silence.

"Maybe another time then." Sierra said, dropping the discussion.

The pair ate in silence until they were done and Aurora wordlessly cleaned the bowls and utensils with four taps of her ruby. She stood and readjusted her mask to cover her chin and lips before tapping her ruby once and unzipping the duffle that appeared. She rummaged for a moment before Sierra made her way toward the crouching woman and touching her shoulder lightly. Aurora turned her head and gazed upon the older blonde.

"Hey, I noticed how quiet you've been. I… I'm sorry if I crossed a line. I didn't mean to offend you." Sierra said quietly, a small melancholy smile on her face.

"You did not offend me, not exactly. It's just that I don't think you would understand. I may explain one day but I am simply not ready." Aurora explained.

"What are you looking for?" Sierra wondered, changing the subject.

Aurora pulled a pip boy from her duffle and sat against the wall of King Cola's castle and held it between the two of them so both would be able to see.

"Even with the advanced technology of my bracelet, the hardware does not allow for a screen. Being discreet as possible, there simply was not enough room to implement one. This pip boy is so obsolete that it is not even funny. However," Aurora said before pressing a button that brought up the map sub screen.

"The pip boy comes with a map screen that automatically updates maps for the surrounding areas. I cannot describe how useful this is. With this I can lead us to our destination and the vehicle we will be able to use to deliver us to my homeland."

"Let me have it if you can part with it. Until we get there, at least." Sierra said.

"I don't know…" Aurora replied skittishly.

"I promise I will give it back. But I am no good in a fight. Not as good as some of the legends of other wasteland wanderers at least. But if you give me your pip boy for a while, I can at least be useful in another way. I can navigate."

Aurora nodded and hefted the device into Sierra's hands. She looked it over turning it this way and that, locating the lever that allowed the cylindrical piece of hardware to attach to her wrist. She placed the pip boy on her wrist and utilized the lever to snap it into place. She powered it on and switched sub screens until she found the map.

Aurora leaned closer and placed her fingers on the pip boy's buttons. She swiped the map until she recognized the aerial view of the area and landscape she had been looking for. Sierra breathed in and Aurora's scent flowed into her nostrils. She felt light headed for a moment realizing that the mysterious woman smelled wonderful. Sierra strived not to touch her leathers as much as she strived not to moan aloud. Aurora smelled… alluring. She couldn't place her finger upon just what she smelled like, but she understood that Aurora smelled… sexy.

"This is where we are heading." Aurora spoke, breaking Sierra from her reverie.

"That's, a junkyard. You're sure about this?" Sierra wondered.

"It is where I stored the vehicle necessary for travelling where we need to go. It isn't the nicest ride around, it needs a little fixing up, but we would rather not walk the distance required to reach my homeland, believe me on that."

"Yeah, a junkyard sounds amazing when you put it that way." Sierra said cheekily.

"If you have any personal effects…" Aurora said.

"Only what I have here in my backpack. A ten-millimeter pistol, some food and several Quantums."

"Quantum?" Aurora wondered.

"Ooh, ooh!" Sierra squealed, unzipping her backpack and producing one of six glowing bright blue bottles of isotope cola.

"It's only the most amazing, most head spinningly delicious soft drink ever developed by anyone ever!" Sierra prattled on.

"John Caleb Barberton, the man I came all this way to Nuka-World to meet, developed Nuka Cola before the war! In an effort to boost sales of America's most popular soft drink he launched a campaign to design a soda that is twice as visually pleasing, twice the caffeine, twice the sugar and twice the taste! After months of planning his production team came up with the idea of adding a radioactive isotope to the mix in order to make it glow brightly like this example!"

Sierra twisted open the bottlecap with a sharp hiss emanating from the released pressure. She placed the bottle to her lips, tipped it into the air bottom up and guzzled the glowing blue liquid, her lips greedily sucking the liquid down.

She sighed and burped when she was finished before carelessly throwing the bottle over the side of King Cola's castle.

"Oh yes, so delicious!" Sierra squealed in delight.

Aurora watched the blonde while shaking her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me, I tend to get a little carried away with Nuka Cola. I just love it so, so, so much!"

"Radioactive Isotopes…" Aurora stated incredulously.

"Yeah, I know how it sounds." Sierra said.

"It sounds ridiculous." Aurora said. She smiled.

"But do I have a surprise for you."

Sierra cocked her head.

"A surprise?"

"Not yet. But I can guarantee you will love it. I will reveal it to you before we leave to my homeland. Not before."

"Aw, rats." Sierra muttered glumly.

"Anyway," Aurora said, "If you are ready. Let's head out."

Sierra perked up visibly. She lifted her backpack from the dusty cracked castle rooftop and patted away some of the grey drywall dust from its exterior before slipping her arms into the straps. She hefted the bulky thing on her shoulders and took another look at the pip boy map.

"First, we have to find a way out of King Cola's castle grounds. There's a lot of ferals around here." Sierra pointed out.

"Not to worry," Aurora said with a smile evident in her voice, "I've made my own way."

Sierra smiled and placed a hand on Aurora's shoulder.

"Well then, let's not keep your people waiting. I just LOVE a good adventure!"

"An adventure it is." Aurora agreed.


End file.
